New Non-Executive and Associate Non-Executive Directors join the Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust Board

NHS England has confirmed the appointment of Saghir Alam OBE as a new Non-Executive Board member of Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust with effect from 1 February 2025.  He has been joined by three new Associate Non-Executive Directors on the Board, Tabitha Arulampalam, Katie Lees and Rebecca Randell.

Saghir is a very experienced non-executive director who has a legal and business background.  He is a Rotherham Borough Council Cabinet Member for Finance and Safe and Clean Communities, and has extensive experience in public sector leadership and governance locally and nationally and was awarded an OBE for public service in 2006.

He is a former Non-Executive Director of The Rotherham NHS Trust, lay advisor to the National Police Improvement Agency and expert member of the Youth Citizen Commission.

Saghir succeeds Jeremy Pease whose term of office came to an end on 31 January 2025 after six years at the Trust. Saghir’s appointment runs from 1 February 2025 until 31 January 2028. 

As a non-executive member of the Board, Saghir’s role is to work alongside other Board colleagues to ensure the Trust has a clear strategy and works to ensure that communities and patients receive high quality, safe services for patients and local communities. 

Martin Havenhand, Chair of the Trust Board, said: “I am delighted that Saghir has joined us on the Board.  His skills and extensive experience will be incredibly valuable to the Trust and we look forward to working with him.  I would also like to thank Jeremy Pease, who has stepped down after six years, for his valued contribution.

“I’m also pleased to welcome three new Associate Non-Executive Directors to the Trust who all bring valuable insight and experience.”

Non-executive appointments to NHS Trusts are made by NHS England and made in accordance with the Governance Code for Public Appointments. NHS England ensures that all appointments to NHS trust boards are made in a way that is open, transparent and fair to candidates. 

Associate Non-Executive Directors

The term of office for the Associate Non-Executive Directors is up to two years from 1 February 2025 and is reviewed annually.

Tabitha Arulampalam has worked in local government, the NHS and the third sector for more than 30 years with a successful track record of collaborative work. She has been a Non-Executive Director for many years, most recently for the Johnnie Johnson Housing Association and Wakefield District Community Foundation. She is a former commissioner of community and mental health services in Yorkshire, working with partner organisations to deliver improvements.

Katherine (Katie) Lees is a General Practitioner (GP) and has helped to develop and deliver seven new NHS services across North West England and West Yorkshire since completing her training in 2016. Katie currently works with an out-of-hours service in West Yorkshire and her roles include clinical care, 111 triage and being part of the COVID Medicine Delivery Unit. She brings valuable lived experience of neurodisability and neurodivergence, which informs her advocacy for inclusivity in healthcare and workplace settings.

Professor Rebecca Randell has over 20 years' experience in digital health and is passionate about using technology to support the NHS in delivering better healthcare and achieving meaningful improvements for patients and staff.  She is Professor of Digital Innovations in Healthcare and Director of the Centre for Digital Innovations in Health and Social Care at the University of Bradford, where she is committed to increasing the diversity of the NHS digital workforce and involving service users in technology design. She has varied experience of committee work at regional, national, and international levels, including for the National Institute for Health and Care Research and the European Federation of Medical Informatics.